Millions of people with osteoporosis should not be afraid to exercise regularly, experts say in guidelines aimed at strengthening bone health, reducing the risk of falls and improving posture.
The condition, which weakens bones and makes them more likely to break, affects more than 3 million people in the United Kingdom and more than 150 million worldwide.
The most common injuries are fractures of the wrist, hip and spine. More than 500,000 people receive hospital treatment for fragility fractures each year at the NHS as a result of osteoporosis.
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So far, there have been no guidelines in the UK on exercise and osteoporosis. There are some in the United States, Australia and Canada, but even that is incomplete.
Regular exercise strengthens bones, reduces the risk of fractures and falls and improves posture, as well as strengthens overall mental and physical health, experts say, which is why it is important that people with osteoporosis do not miss it.
But uncertainty about what kind of physical activity is safe, especially later in life or when bones are significantly weakened, has left doctors unsure of what to recommend and has hampered some patients from regular activity.
In an effort to clear up the confusion, a multidisciplinary panel of experts reviewed the existing evidence and based on clinical and patient opinion to agree on recommendations for maximizing bone health while minimizing the risk of fractures.
The resulting consensus statement, approved by the Royal Society for Osteoporosis, was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
People with this condition should be encouraged to do more than less, he said, taking routine exercises that focus on strengthening muscles two to three days a week and brief outbursts of moderate-impact activities such as jogging, aerobics or zumba on most days.
And for those who have previously suffered a vertebral fracture or who are weak / elderly, the advice is to include lower-impact exercises up to the level of brisk walking for 20 minutes a day.
Panel President Dawn Skelton, a professor of aging and health at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: exercise instructor. Those with a history of falls or serious concerns about their balance can contact their local fall office.
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